New Games and New Code …
Survival and Prosperity in the New World Order
I’ve struggled with writing this post for more than a few days now.
Let me begin at the beginning and sharing why this has been a difficult post for me to write.
I hate the idea of being a harbinger of doom, and this is not going to be that, but there are some folks who might read it that way anyway because of their existing mindset. So the compromise I’ve decided to make is to let you know up front that this won’t be my regular cheery, inspiring type post, but something more serious and deeper.
WARNING:
If you are prone to being easily pulled to a negative mindset you might want to stop reading here and delete this particular post. What I want to share in it will be disturbing for some to read, especially if they are not prepared to hear some inconvenient truths and deal with them before time runs out on them. Sorry to be so blunt, but the prime directive of my philosophy is truly “First Do No Harm – To One’s Self.”
Okay now that we have that out of the way and you’ve decided to step beyond reasonable caution and my warning about what might be perceived as disturbing news I’ll get to it with you …
YOUR TIME IS LIMITED TO TAKE ACTION ON YOUR BEHALF TO PREPARE YOURSELF FOR WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY A NEW WORLD ORDER.
I assume if you’re a regular reader you know that I am a U.S. citizen and reside in the United States. However, I by no means consider myself any less of a citizen of the planet than an American citizen, because anyone who’s thinking clearly realizes that no one can afford to ignore the interconnectedness of the planet on a global level.
I’ll leave the pure science to the scientists (physical, biological and social), but you are probably aware of the news that circulates about things like:
- global warming (fact not fiction, only the cause is in debate)
- recent significant sun spot activity (the most extreme in recent times)
- the dire state of our oceans (depleted fishing stocks, coral reef die off, pollution on a scale that’s visible from space …)
- the issue with our energy sources that will likely continue to exacerbate (oil reserves are dwindling, new sources of oil have consequences that we need to seriously consider, e.g.: fracking shale and the chemical pollution, running pipelines across virgin wilderness, oil spills in the oceans and seas …, nuclear power and the containment and waste issues …)
- political and economic unrest circulating around the planet (the rising tensions on the mid-East … Israel/Iran, Libya, Syria …, the economic fallout in the E.U. … Greece’s imminent default, Spain and Italy on the verge of serious economic tailspins …)
I could point to more but I’m sure you get the point … i.e.: there’s serious stuff happening. This is not news BTW … there’s always serious stuff happening. The news is that it’s happening on a global scale that’s largely unprecedented in modern times in a world that is inextricably interconnected in a way that has never before been present to my knowledge.
Becoming An Enlightened World Citizen:
This makes it urgent that we all become Enlightened World Citizens. I mean that we commit ourselves to pulling ours heads up out of the sand, waking up and smelling the proverbial coffee regarding the state of the planet, including but not limited to the state of the various societies in which we reside.
The opposite of being an Enlightened World Citizen is believing that “the government” will take care of it … or that there are others more qualified to address the serious issues we are confronting than we are … this is just an artifact of the manipulation of all governments in the modern era, but give me a moment more to explain.
Sometime recently, let’s just say sometime post World War II as a common demarcation point, there has been a shift from governments that hold an obligation to serving the people to governments that serve themselves, i.e.: the people in and running the world government bodies. We’ve seen a worldwide crisis in the political domain to governments declaring that their top priority is the continuation of government (and we can assume that means the folks who are now running it and their direct supporters) and not the fate of the common people that are by default the nation these governments represent. This is in fact a declaration of class warfare, establishing a privileged class of those who hold senior government roles and those who support them, i.e.: big money backers, and the rest of us.
Please make no mistake about this … I do not intend you to read my last sentence above as hyperbole, i.e.: that our governments are declaring a de-facto class warfare on the common citizen, but instead as a statement of obvious fact based on evidence that can be tracked.
Governmental Class Warfare:
For example, here in the United States we saw an abominable piece of legislation passed as a National Health Care Bill putting into law forced purchasing of health care from privately held insurance companies under the duress of fines to be executed by the Internal Revenue Service. This is horrific legislation in my opinion and in the opinion of many clear thinking social and political scholars. The supporters are decrying that it was the best they could do, but better than nothing. I say we’d be better off with nothing, but I’ll leave that be for now.
Let me just address one specific aspect of that bill. As an accommodation to those who are in government, i.e.: the folks who wrote and passed the National Health Care legislation, they are above this law. Pubic “servants”, e.g.: congress men and women, senators and of course the President and his family, will keep their government provided (read: paid for by the people) health care policies, which are A) unavailable to the common citizen and B) superior to just about any privately provided insurance policy that an individual can purchase barring all considerations of cost. This is a de-facto statement of a declaration of a privileged class by my reading of the evidence. As an American citizen I find this to be offensive legislation, and doubly so when it’s sold to the public as serving the underserved.
I can point out more … e.g.: the recent legislation here in the U.S. that makes the time honored laws around haebeus corpus null and void. If you question my veracity of this claim here is a direct quote from the ACLU:
“The Senate voted 38-60 to reject an important amendment [that] would have removed harmful provisions authorizing the U.S. military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians, including American citizens, anywhere in the world… We’re disappointed that, despite robust opposition to the harmful detention legislation from virtually the entire national security leadership of the government, the Senate said ‘no’ to the Udall amendment and ‘yes’ to indefinite detention without charge or trial.”¹
If you understand constitutional law in an even cursory way, or care at all about civil liberties as a citizen, this is a terrifying indication of things to come. Habeus corpus is a fundamental point in any conversation about “the rule of law’ that is so often cited by fans of big government initiative. The right of habeus corpus was established in English Common Law in 1679 in the Habeus Corpos Act, and has remained a central tenant of the rule of law in terms of protecting the rights of the citizenry against undue government aggression. Yet here we are after more than three hundred years of accepting this as a fundamental right of law granted to the citizens for protection against their government taking unjust action against them with the repeal of this law virtually overnight.
Maybe the more significant question here is whether this legislation to suspend habeus corpus is even constitutional. This is important to you regardless of where you are reading this from, what your national origin of citizenry is, or in which country you reside. It is not only an issue of U.S. law, but of an indication of the kind of changes to common law that are being worked into systems around the world … often in the guise of national security, national sovereignty or national prosperity. This last, national prosperity, is possibly the most worrying.
In Greece recently we’ve seen an entire population held hostage not even by their own government, but by the actions of an external body who has demanded austerity measures placed on the people of that nation that serve the external actors far more than they serve the people of Greece. If Greece defaults on it’s economic obligations today there is little doubt that the country as a whole would suffer severe economic retribution from it’s lenders. However, this begs the question, “Which is worse, a single default with the repercussions that will entail on a road back to economic stability, or the on-going deprivations of an entire nation to keep feeding the economic masters they come to depend upon?”
Along with our international allies, here in the U.S. we are becoming ever more subject to the dubious imposition of “international law” that our government, specifically the Presidential Administration, seems ever more willing to allow to usurp of rights as a sovereign nation. We are engaged in war acts on behalf of an international request without the due sanctioning of those acts by Congress, who by U.S. Constitutional law hold the sole right to declare and engage in war acts. The only exception to this is direct and imminent threat to the nation of the United States and/or the land itself.
According to United States constitutional law the President can only act with urgency to secure the national interests of the United States, and then still must go to Congress to authorize any continuation of the war acts. Our current President, Barack Obama, has declared himself above this constitutional imperative, denying even the questions posed to him to address this issue. This is evident by example in the recent action taken in Libya by U.S. armed forces, first in the bombing raid and then in terms of supplying ground support. His excuse was that there was an international request for U.S. action, and he complied, without feeling any need to honor constitutional law it seems.
This, as they say, is just the tip of the iceberg. While many of my examples above are based on actions occurring here in the U.S., they are typical of the kinds of actions governments are enacting around the world as I write this post. The point of these examples are to provide the impetus to recognize that you must become responsible for your own sovereignty first and foremost.
The Challenge of Sovereignty:
Now here’s the major concept I want to introduce …
It’s largely impossible to remain “sovereign” as an individual in today’s political and economic climate … you can only seek to remain aware and move with the flow of the actions you are subject to, unless and until there is a major revisioning of the structure of both national and international laws and significant political reform.
For what it’s worth, I think this will happen … very probably within the lifetime of most of the folks who are likely to be reading this post.
However, unless and until this kind of reform happens you have only yourself to turn to, along with those who share a like-minded view and are savvy enough to be preparing themselves to act as and when necessary.
Once again, let me be clear as to what I mean by the statement above.
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I am not suggesting stockpiling food and water.
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I am not suggesting that you arm yourself and stockpile weapons and ammunition.
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I am not suggesting that you conspire to revolt or rise against the government with violence.
These are the acts of fear that I would specifically suggest you avoid and shun. At best actions of this kind are a bandaid on a grievous wound should they become necessary, i.e.: to protect ourselves against a government gone haywire that seeks to harm it’s own citizens, or a major economic or environmental catastrophe.
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I am suggesting that you become informed, and to stay informed.
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I am suggesting that you develop and hone the skills to notice what I call “the signals in the system.”
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I am suggesting that you let go of your false beliefs of security based on the way the world was fifty or more years ago.
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I am suggesting that you build a kind of internal “rapid response system” that will allow you to respond to the events that unfold around you in real time (and not after the fact when it’s too late to do what you need to for yourself and those you care about and love).
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I am suggesting that your primary tool of survival is your mind in times like these, and you must prioritize it’s care and feeding so to speak.
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I am suggesting that you do whatever it takes to develop razor-honed senses that allow you to react prudently despite the crisis or chaos that emerges around you.
Now I admit I’m a bit biased, but I deeply and truly believe that preparing for what’s coming by trying to build a stockpile of any kind of material resources BEFORE you build the mental resources that will serve you in crisis and chaos is downright foolish and possibly suicidal.
I had the privilege of beginning this path of formally learning how to be mentally prepared to deal with whatever life and the world threw my way from the tender age of 15 or so. I could go into detail, but that would detract from the essential message I want to be sharing here. Suffice it to say that I’ve had teachers who were real life experts in survival in circumstances of crisis and chaos, including real life and death scenarios, and that I took their lessons to heart.
What I learned from these folks is that becoming mentally agile and nimble is the single best form of security in times that are uncertain. If nothing else I would expect you would agree with me that we live in uncertain times. What these folks paid attention to were using the signals in the system to project where the system was moving before it arrived at where it is headed.
Playing the “New Game” Using the “New Code”:
Today I meet many people who are playing the game as it was defined fifty or more years ago, and missing the big picture that the game has changed. Let me state that categorically, this is NOT the game your parents and grandparents played … it’s not changing, it has already changed … and woe to you if you fail to catch up and smell the metaphorical coffee that’s burning on the stove as you’re reading this now. You’ve got to catch up and learn how to properly interpret the signals in the system based on the “new code” that is present today, and not apply the code you learned growing up, or the code constantly being misrepresented in the popular media today.
The “old code” worked for a long time, i.e.: become part of the system … study hard, do well in school, get a good job, keep your nose to the grindstone … and you would largely be rewarded commensurately with your contribution. This no longer holds true. In fact this is the most blatant form of misinformation and propaganda that you could possibly be subjected to in the current system, i.e.: “education is the great equalizer” … BULLSHIT! Education is absolutely NO GUARANTEE that you will succeed or even survive … just ask the thousands of college graduates out of work and laboring under unbelievable debt from student loans.
However, your government, big business, the wealthy upper-class in all societies internationally, the popular media lapdogs … all will try to persuade you of this “evident” truth, e.g.: Mitt Romney, a current front-runner in the U.S. primaries for the selection of the Republican Presidential candidate, recently told a student who questioned him in a rally to select a school that doesn’t cost too much that would provide a good education, and “not to expect the U.S. government to forgive student loans.” This is both atrocious and frightening behavior from a super-wealthy politician who hopes to become President of the United States. I can assure you this is NOT the advice he’s given to his children. His children are more likely than not to attend one of the most privileged schools in the United States, make contacts there that will secure them entry into the most select opportunities for the rest of their lives, and carry with them the calling card that opens doors only having an elite education can do for you in the United States.
As I said, make no mistake about this … we are engaged in class warfare … and the only “real” weapon you have is your mind.
How-To Survive, Succeed and Prosper In the “New Game” Using “New Code”:
Okay … so what can you do?
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First of all you can acknowledge and recognize that this is indeed a new game we are all playing.
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Next, you can acknowledge and recognize that they old rules no longer apply.
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Third you can begin to learn the “new code” I’ve referred to above.
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And, most importantly you can begin to build and develop the mental tools you’ll need to play this new game using the new code effectively.
I’ll leave steps one and two above to you, with a single caveat … you’d be a fool to trust the popular media for your news. This includes any widely distributed newspaper, periodical, radio or television news programming. There are no sources that fall under these categories I’ve just mentioned that are exempt. Tuning into many of these sources, making a concerted effort to tune into those news sources that hold seemingly conflicting views is a start if you’re not prepared to go further, however this will NOT keep you informed in the way I’m suggesting in this post.
Understand this … the major news media is a business enterprise, and as such it’s primary obligation is to make money NOT to report the news or provide world-class journalistic objectivity or coverage. To get beyond the surface level that the major media news sources are committed to maintaining, including all the misinformation and propaganda, you would have to go to much more selective sources, and that is beyond the scope of this posting to provide. The best recommendation I can quickly give you however is this, A) find independent resources and speciality resources (e.g.: scientific journals, academic journals …) and B) cross check their reporting to gain a wider view of the stories you are following, and become selective in where you place your attention … most reporting is entertainment and designed to deflect your attention from the real stories that matter. You can only build this skill with commitment and time.
If you’re willing to make the commitment and devote the time to gathering and absorbing the real news you will become far more discerning about local and world affairs, and my points 1 and 2 above will be taken care of, however you cannot skip this step and expect to succeed in steps 3 and 4.
In order to discuss how to learn the new code I’m referring to I need to take a minute and define what I mean by the new code.
The new code is a reference I’m using regarding the rules of engagement in the new game we are currently playing globally. The best way for me to get to the new game is to point out some of the old games (there are more than I’m going to point to here).
Old Games:
Game A:
There was a game called, “The church/temple/mosque, state, government … will take care of you.” this game is still prevalent in some parts of the world, and present in virtually all parts of the world to some degree or another, i.e.: some portion of the population is still playing this game. The markers of this game are … “Just be good, do all that is required and requested of you and the rest will take care of itself.” The people who play this game are hoping for the kind of stability and security that the senior players, i.e.: priests, rabbis, imams, monk … president, prime minister, dictator … whatever, promise them. Ultimately the people who play this game become fodder for the feeding of the people they serve.
Game B:
There is another game called, “If you have enough and take care of your self you’ll be okay.” this is a game of material acquisition. It is very prevalent today in many parts of the world. In fact this is still probably the most prevalent game begin played today, even by most of the folks who live at or near the top of the heap, and virtually everyone in the middle who isn’t playing the game above. The markers for this game is the belief in the idea that, “He who has the most toys wins.” or “You have to look out for yourself because no one else is looking out for you.” … and the idea that you can have enough to keep you secure, safe and sovereign despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. This game will continue to be popular and played, even giving those who succeed best at it some illusion of the security, safety and sovereignty they seek, however all the evidence is in that it is only a matter of time until you can’t have enough to be protected.
Game C:
A third game is called,“If you are part of the right group you too can share in the wealth and privilege that is rightfully yours.” this is a game that has gained popularity among folks living in the most prosperous nations of the world, who themselves come from a position of prosperity (largely the result of those who played or are playing the game above). This is the most dangerous game on the planet in my opinion. It’s dangerous in many ways.
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First of all the people who play it often believe it is “the game” that should be played by everyone, so they seek to bring everyone into their game … willingly or not.
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Secondly, they think they are playing a game that has equal rules for everyone playing it, while they ignore all those who are not playing and can’t or won’t, and the significant stratification to resources even among those who are playing.
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Third, and most significantly, this is the game that the top politicians and their cronies are playing at around the world and the others playing at it support them in achieving the lifestyles and privilege I’ve been bemoaning in this entire posting.
The markers for this game include, “You can play with us if you agree to join us and use our rules … but of course we respect your right not to play, we just won’t share any of our resources with you and will persecute you for being different.” What makes this so scary is that the folks who play this particular game really believe in the game they are playing, and that it’s only right everyone should be playing this game with them.
New Games (and the New Code they use):
Now there are two new code games I want to present for your consideration:
New Game 1:
This game is called, “I’m free to do what I want, when I want and where I want … as long as I don’t get caught by the system.” this game is the outgrowth of a jet-setting lifestyle popularized by those playing Game C above. The folks who play this game believe they can remain just outside of any system that seeks to contain them, using multiple sets of rules as suits them to achieve the freedom and liberty they most desire. A couple of the markers of this game are, “I’m a world citizen and don’t feel confined by or obligated to any one nation or system on the planet.” and “The formal systems on the planet are so f@#ked up that the only way to survive is to find a way to be beyond their reach.” Following these rules the players of this game seek to remain unencumbered by any single system, but to benefit from as many of the systems they encounter as they can. To some extent the players of the first new code game are first and foremost game players who seek to win the game even if it means sacrificing a hand or two depending on the cards their dealt in this round. An advantage of this game is that they players are good at inventing new ways to win and leaving others alone, while they pursue their own satisfaction. A major disadvantage of this game is that it does little to nothing to contribute to the common good, and in fact saps the resources of the system-at-large serving only the individual who is playing.
New Game 2:
This game is called, “I’m sick and tired and I’m not going to take it anymore … join up or be left behind!” and it’s a game that is gaining serious popularity and adherents among the children of the common folk who are playing games B and C above. The markers of this game include, “You’ve left me a world that is dying and depleted, and you expect me to sit by passively, while you continue to suck up the resources of the world and f@#k it up for the rest of us!” These are largely young, ambitious and angry youth who want to live the promise of a different future than games A, B or C suggest to them. They are willing to move from complaining to taking action, including stepping away from the old rules and old code of the old games. When their momentum builds enough they are quite willing and able to take the reigns from the current stock of world leaders and reset the system. The only real questions in my mind are:
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will they have enough time to do it
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will there be enough left to build a new future from when they are in control, and
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what damage will happen between now and then as the transition to New Game 2 is unfolding?
So the new code I’m referring to is reflected in the attitudes of the people who are playing the new games (1 & 2 above). Some of the distinctions of people who are playing the new games using new code are that:
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they are self-responsible – not leaving it to others to determine their fate
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they are globally, socially, economically, politically and environmentally aware
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they are activists – even if it is only in their own self-interest, they are innovative and committed to inventing new solutions to the situations they encounter instead of depending on old formulas, dictums and paradigms
While we could extend this list that should give you a good idea about what I mean by the “new code.”
Learning the New Games and the New Code:
Frankly learning the new games and the new code isn’t going to be for everyone. Just a posting like this is enough for many people to get them running back to the old game they’ve been playing, going back to sleep and accepting the pablum they’re being fed that passes for news, driving their head under the sand and hoping this is all just another “Chicken Little Chant” claiming that the sky is falling.
Only the folks who are ready to become Enlightened World Citizens are likely to sit up and take notice of a posting like this, in fact I expect I’ll be getting equal numbers of hate mail and praise mail once I’ve published this post. I look forward to both because it’s all data in the system and grist to the mill of my mind as I continue to hone my “new code” skills.
Here are some of my recommendations for you if you’ve decided that what I’m proposing is interesting and you’d like to know more, or take the next steps forward.
If you are over the age of seventy :
- stay alert and do what you can to pick up on the signals in the system
- be prepared to hunker down and secure what you have, largely by becoming “grey” … don’t stand out
- do what you can to preserve and secure what wealth you have
- if you don’t yet have any security funds of your own start setting some aside as the dole may dry up (think in terms of hard, liquid, moveable assets for at least part of this funding)
- build networks of contacts you can count on and to the extent you’re able who can count on you … include those who are older and need your help if possible, as well as those who are younger and you can reach out to in times of need or crisis (this may be your most important lifeline if things really hit the fan)
- begin becoming a consumer of world news, including non-traditional resources in your data feed (the Internet can be a great source of these resources, but you have to be discerning about the quality of the data you’re receiving)
- make a concerted effort to build multiple nest eggs … DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET! (use access to international funding to build resources in more than one jurisdiction legally so if something critical hits one of the places where you are invested you can resort to your other holdings)
- consider your hard assets and liquid assets as perishable and create a plan of action regarding what you will do if they are devalued in some significant way (your best resource is your ability to create new wealth on the fly, if you don’t yet have a way to do this consider getting the knowledge and/or skills you need to prosper in hard times, e.g.: manual craft skills will always be necessary and in demand, basic life survival knowledge and skills will always be in demand as well)
- if you don’t yet have them invest in learning real “human skills” – including high quality communication and decision-making skills (even in the worst of times these can’t be taken from you and will most definitely serve you – two recommendations in this arena are Paul Eckman’s “Telling Lies” and “Leadership and Self-Deception” by The Arbinger Group)
- depending on where you see yourself on your career trajectory make the most of it, or find a way to ease yourself out of it with as many good contacts in place as possible (this is likely to be the moment in your life where you have the most substantial and well developed professional contacts you will ever have, deepening those that are valuable to you is worth your time and effort, do this by becoming a valuable contact yourself)
- make a significant commitment to becoming an astute and diligent consumer of information – commit to reading multiple sources of news, both popular and alternative, also subscribe to a leading journal in science, social sciences/economics/foreign policy and at least one from your personal field of professional focus
- build a deep nest egg, and then diversify your investments – use multiple forms of investment, and don’t be afraid to include some risky investments in the mix with a high potential for strong and aggressive growth, also include some hard assets – especially those that are liquid and mobile
- commit to developing exquisite skills, both professional/expert and general human skills (e.g.: communication/decision-making) – you need to invest in developing yourself at least as much if not more than your portfolio, these are the most permanent resources you can develop – despite changes that occur in the world around you these are yours to keep, being skillful in human interaction will be seen more and more as an expert skill that has high value in the future as it’s unfolding (NOTE: don’t be misled by the current emphasis on science and technology, while these skills will remain important they will become more and more commonplace to possess, while real expertise in the general human skills will be less available and more highly valued)
- this is the moment to be developing your life skills and contacts aggressively – this translates into doing things, lots of things … build multiple experiences and get as wide a variety of exposure as you can, specifically don’t get lost in a single space, e.g.: a “lifetime” position, because it won’t exist for you when you need it most
- become financially astute, but don’t worry about creating your fortune – Henry Ford is famous for saying that he didn’t save a nickel until he was forty, he invested all his money in himself and his business until then … a man ahead of his time, but you do want to learn about the way money works and how the financial marketplace and the economy will and do effect you … study the patterns of movement of money to build a facility to notice the patterns as they are emerging and then move onto developing a sense for predicting where the markets are heading
- develop a “sixth sense” for people, learn who to stay close to and whom to avoid – you have a unique window of opportunity to develop your people skills in a way that will become unavailable to you as you grow older, this is akin to the window of opportunity to learn a new language with greater facility at particular points in your development than others, as we approach full adulthood and maturity we are naturally organized to reset our patterns of personal interaction in a way that becomes more fixed as we get older, take advantage of this window by engaging in as much productive human contact as possible – and find opportunities to get high quality input from others who can help you establish good patterns as soon as possible
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
¹Senate Rejects Amendment Banning Indefinite Detention (http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/senate-rejects-amendment-banning-indefinite-detention)
Des says
Hi Joseph,
I am out and about doing business and read your post. The propsitions you make which I have resonance with and hey, maybe RAW wasn’t such a conspiracy theorist after all!
I have been and moreso becoming alert to message behind the messages and actions of those that create the rules. As you say it aint pretty. Ultimately can a new socio-economic paradigm arise that enables a “lifestyle” for all without a war between nations or classes. Some of the obvious trends in countries struggling to pay thir way and the inability of the current “capital system” to provide enough jobs for the young flooding out of the education systems. The actions to create the space for something to occur to redirect both these situations are lamentable. Even if the young are not sure of the form of the new society or the New Code that helps the current “elders” should allow space for the New Code in action to emerge. Our challenge is for the current world order to do this. I dont just mean the governments, I mean the PEOPLE from all walks of life from those that want stay safe, not open their ears, and believe all is OK to the predators who will take action to protect Throwr self interest. The new voice will require to resilient.
Thanks for your provocative post!
Cheers
Des
Joseph says
Des – thanks for the reply. I’m truly not sure if we are looking towards a future without war or at least serious violent unrest, at least in some hotspots around the world. I think that even major unrest and instability demands an upgrade to the “human software” we are using.
However, from my point of view you can’t upgrade the “software” and run it on old “hardware” without making the necessary hardware adjustments too. This is where 90% of my attention is these days, i.e.: integrating the human software and hardware equation so that we have maximal efficiency and effectiveness in relation to contextual fit.
What I’ve found and continue to find is that those folks who are in fact well integrated with regard to their ability to tune into the embodied responses and actions in the world display a common grace and charisma that are simply unattainable without that integration from my observation. This is the “miracle” I constantly seek to replicate with my clients.
FWIW my presumptions are that when enough folks “get” how embodied they are, i.e.: how precious, wonderous, magnificent and miraculous life really is … then we’ll be on a path to salvation … “The act of saving; preservation or deliverance from destruction, danger, or great calamity.” [1913 Webster]
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
Your analysis of the ways to relate to the world seem intuitively reasonable to me. The state of the world is clearly uncertain and you can’t me make more alarmed than I am already. As for the details of your ideas about the future, I’m skeptical. Much of it is unknowable. Global warming, even in the most extreme scenarios, is not going to have seriously negative impact for decades yet. And the most extreme scenarios are looking increasingly unlikely. Sunspots? Isn’t that a problem that some expect to cause global cooling?? The ones that are considered total crackpots by the establishment talk about 4 degrees C in a decade or two. That would be a lot more serious, but it’s obviously incompatible with global warming. Depleted fish stock is a problem obviously, but it’s not going to bring down civilization. Energy is also obviously a problem and potentially very serious, but we don’t know what will happen. It depends on technological innovation and lots of other uncertain variables. I’m pretty certain, though, that opposition to nuclear power in Europe will yield to people’s need for energy security. And political an economic unrest is similarly potentially very serious but impossible to predict.
Joseph says
Dagfinn – I don’t know that I’m trying to predict a future as much as point out a single set of scenarios … that are on the horizon of many, many potential scenarios all too far to see from we are standing today. What my intuitions suggest and the evidence I have supports is that we are on the cusp of needing to take some corrective action to sustain life as we know it on the planet.
What I’m not suggesting is that we are at cause for the threats we are facing in totality, e.g.: global warming, sun spots … environmental change … but we are surely at cause of our own creations, e.g.: nuclear power … social unrest … and we need to step up to the plate and at the least acknowledge that in some way.
Where I’m particularly focused is on developing and distributing the tools for conscious evolution that folks who are not content with the status quo will need to step up and move forward. These are the tools I refer to in my post as “real human skills” and include thinking beyond cortical knee-jerk responses or dealing with the five Fs of limbic response (flight, fright, freeze, feed and fornicate), IMO we need to re-engage at a deeply embodied level to what it is to be human.
If someone agrees with me and my take then they will be likely to agree we need a new set of thinking tools that’s more inclusive and systemic. A way to think about this would be in terms of developing a cybernetic epistemology. This would allow us to tune into the recursive and iterative loops we experience in our movement through the world, in relation to ourselves and also in relation to one another. When we upgrade to a cybernetic epistemology, or systemic way of knowing the world we inhabit, we are more likely to take steps to build systems that work and support a future worth creating.
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
Yes, a cybernetic epistemology is what I’m aiming for, too. But then there’s the bullshit version of it which encompasses much of environmentalism, in which systemic understanding of the natural environment seems to impede or preclude systemic understanding of human interaction. That’s why environmental cliché issues like nuclear power or global warming make me uneasy. I can be more specific about that if it fails to ring a bell.
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
Joseph, you might like to read Roger Pielke Jr’s book The Climate Fix. It’s the one must-read book about climate change. Doesn’t fit into any pigeon holes and challenges a lot of presuppositions that aren’t usually challenged by either the “warmists” or the “skeptics”.
Biddy says
Joseph, Fabulous post! I think the forces of darkness have already occupied the Praesidium, that civilization has already been brought down. Our bread and circuses may have grown in both sophistication and shallowness. Life in the UK is changing faster than I might have imagined possible, with drivers in the system becoming turbo-charged, as a combination of financial pressures, fear-mongering, and skilful doublespeak from the government appear to divide people into refuseniks and toe-the-liners.
Your recommendations are a welcome reminder that we are free within that sliver of sacred space that we occupy to do what we choose, alerted to the unfolding patterns in the system, for the patterns are still there even if the warp and weft are stretched to crazy breaking point.
Thrilling, perilous times.
As it all moves more quickly, it’s good to know how to slow, to watch, to take the scent in, to choose which way to hunt, when to lie fallow.
Joseph says
Biddy … agreed. What is it that they say about great minds again???
Ryan says
Surprising post and I hate to just drop a link, but this man has a lot to say about it too: http://www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com/. Opened my eyes for sure.
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
Sorry, I need to go color blind before I can read that site.
Joseph says
Ryan – what stood out for you on this site? I’m on-board with Dagfinn on this one, it’s really a challenge to get past the blast of color and distributed information, for me a cacophony of visual noise (FWIW I just recommended that a client of mine change this very same disturbance on her sight … but so far to no avail, so I’m not reading anything there either).
Peter Wright says
Interesting stuff as always Joseph, I am an ex Zimbabwean farmer forced to relocate to Canada so I know what happens when a rabid government deliberately destroys an important section of the economy for political purposes and in the process murders, injures and totally impoverishes a huge segment of the population.
When the first few farms were attacked and the owners killed or forced off, the feeling from the people in your old games A & B was that “it can’t happen to us” or “they won’t let this go too far”. Unfortunately those playing game C were acting in concert with the perpetrators of the violence, they kept playing the game until 95% of the farms were taken.
Ten years later the country is totally devastated, it’s currency abandoned and 25 % of its population departed.
My advice to all readers especially those like me over 50 (I am 61) is take Joseph’s advice on preparing for a new game very seriously. It is a huge wake up call to lose all one’s assets and income – and I do mean ALL at age 54 and then have to find a safe place to live.
My problem with your post, is that I do not have the same faith as you that new game 2 players have the skill, expertise, inclination or even desire to referee a better game. It seems from the various “Occupy” movements, to comments in various media, establishment, social or other, that these players have clear ideas about what they do not want, but very vague and unrealistic notions of what they propose.
All very well to want to destroy the old game, but there has to be a new one to replace it, otherwise we are asking for anarchy.
Two more thoughts, perhaps Globalisation has gone too far, the EU dictating to Greece is a symptom. We might need to place national values above global nice-to-have-ideas.
Maybe the world has passed it’s optimum population level and we need to get back to a sustainable level of, at a guess less than 5 billion? Would any world leader have the courage to pick up that thorny nettle?
Joseph says
Peter – we’ve had a brief exchange before about Zimbabwe, and you know I agree. I’m disturbed by these kinds of attempts to redistribute wealth, be it land, money or other resources, based on what I would call “class warfare.” IMO this is what happened in Zimbabwe with a twist – it was also done as an act of retribution. FWIW I have an issue with retribution that comes after generations of delay for all kinds of reasons, but most expediently because it places an undue burden of responsibility and onus on common people long after the fact.
Now here’s a bigger question … how when you’ve been the victim of what you perceive to be an unfair, unjust system do you get past it and move on?
This is a question that many people here in the U.S. are facing as they lose their homes and their jobs these days. It is a question that many Greeks are facing as they see their hopes for a comfortable retirement disappear completely. This same question faces all those folks who placed investments in the hands of criminals who backed by other wealthy criminals operating in and at the edges of a system who lost their life’s savings as a result … e.g.: Bernie Madoff, John Corzine …
Tim says
Great post Joe
I wish I didn’t agree with all you say, but I do!!!
When I talk like this Red just wants me to stop, but when it comes from you she can’t ignore it.
I’m working on those communication skills, but I have some ways to go!
My brain however got scrambled by ‘cybernetic epistemology’ can you elaborate more on what you mean by this?
And thank you for putting in the effort to make these posts.
Joseph says
Tim … hahahahaha, well sorry to be supporting your paranoia! However, you did read the part where I recommend against stockpiling and thinking about acting against the system violently didn’t you? Also, you read that the only group I recommended “going grey” to were those over seventy, right?
The rest of us have an obligation (IMO) to do what we can to survive and prosper so we can bring about a new era for those who are coming, e.g.: our children and our children’s children. This kind of self-sacrifice is virtually unheard of in most circles. it’s completely missing from Game B and New Game 1. People playing game A are so lost in believe that “they will fix it all” that they can’t make a meaningful contribution to changing things. Players in Game C have shot at changing things, but they are too committed to doing it their way, and they are blind to the realities that are outside the scope of their own predicaments; i.e.: if they are well off they can’t conceive of everyone being well off and they certainly don’t intend to diminish their own state of affairs for a more even distribution of resources – “Hey why should I give up what I’ve got when everyone can step up and live like me if we just give them the chance and the tools … there’s more than enough to go around … this isn’t a zero sum game we’re playing …” … you probably get my point. The same thing is true of Game C players who are struggling, the only difference is they are convinced that it’s just a matter of getting rid of the Game B players who are hijacking the system and then there will be natural redistribution of wealth and everyone will be okay … in the meantime there’s always “The Secret” … The Law of Attraction … The Power of NOW! … and other forms of magical thinking. As soon as we discover the track that takes us to Hogwarts we can actually probably make this all work …
Then you have the New Game 2 players … they aren’t “really” here yet. They are surely up and coming, but we probably have a full generation of power players from games A, B, C and new game 1 we need to wade through before these folks will have access to any real power, but they are beginning to build their muscle.
These players are mostly naive right now. They think they can just turn things around by the force of their will and their intent. But they will learn it takes more than that as they mature. They will learn to organize in large groups, they will learn how the system works and how to work the system, they will learn how to interact powerfully so that the old game players get out of their way, or they will learn how to deal with them to make them irrelevant. However, that’s a decade or more away before we see real “boots on the ground” progress from this group … but I assure you it’s coming, and it aint gonna be pretty.
So the key in the meantime is learn how to “feel” the waves in the system, attending to the “signals in the system” so you can surf on the changing currents of our time. If you haven’t seen it watch the movie “Soul Surfer” … it’s a charming movie about a young woman athlete, but there’s one scene in it where Dennis Quaid who plays the girl’s father is talking about “feeling the movement of the ocean” with her, and then a subsequent scene where she “gets it.” This is what I’m talking about in life.
As you know this is my life’s work man! I am all about “feeling the movement” … and teaching others how to tune into that themselves. It happens in human systems all the time … whether it’s a small family where the tensions ebb and flow, sometimes rising up to the boiling point if no one is catching them soon enough … and sometimes dissipating naturally when there’s an intervention of caring and love soon enough. In an organizational setting it’s the same thing, but more complex … and there the rules of power apply, and you need to know them and know how to wield them well if you want to survive and prosper in that environment (HINT: lots of A, B and C game players … with Bs running roughshod over As and Cs much of the time because they have a clear and extraordinary focus on winning at all costs).
Anyway, thanks for the comments …
John says
Joe
Indeed what you say is very real and very now. The problems are no better in most western “democratic” countries. In Australia they cannot get the minerals out of the ground quick enough, coal seam mining is rapidly gaining momentum, good farm-able land is being desecrated – and to make it even more uncontrollable, much of the land is being bought by overseas investors who have little, if any care of the environment like most governments probably. They certainly don’t give a hoot about how people will be living in the near and long term future.
I believe there are many ways for people to make changes and perhaps we could start at the top. We need the younger generation or alternative mindsets i.e. those not part of Game A or Game B, to become the prime decision makers, which is perhaps what you were saying in part?
cheers
John
Joseph says
John – FWIW in my opinion it’s okay, the system is bigger than the individuals playing inside of it. I tend to apply Orgel’s Second Rule here: “Evolution is clever than you are.” [Evolutionary Biologist, Leslie Orgel. ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgel's_rule%5D
It’s disturbing to me too to see all the destruction of the environment going on around the planet in the quest for profit. I can’t make any other sense of it, except that there are folks who value profit more than life itself. These are the times we live in … and it’s an old, old paradigm. But we are in a period of paradigmatic change ala Thomas Kuhn’s work on scientific paradigms.
Fundamentally the old guard is stuck in the existing paradigm. The new paradigm challenges the fundamental tenants of the old paradigm, e.g.: in this case it could be something like “Progress/Technology will save us.”while they think they are pointing to truly innovative and inspiring acts of transformation (this is a problem I have with folks like Ray Kutzweil who’s brilliant in his own right, but lacks a fundamental awareness of the proprietary significance of biology over technology in my opinion – check Orgel’s Second Rule again if you’re unsure). This is akin to Jeff Goldblum’s comment in the guise of the character he plays in Steven Spielberg’s movie “Jurassic Park” … “Nature finds a way.”
The first response to a paradigmatic change is to run back to what in Kuhn refers to in his model about scientific revolutions as “normal science” … in this case “science” can be replaced by any kind of paradigmatic understanding, i.e.: “democracy” … “capitalism” … and the reason is that under the normal paradigm in place there is tremendous progress and productivity. To quote Kuhn, “when the paradigm is successful, the profession will have solved problems that its members could scarcely have imagined and would never have undertaken without commitment to the paradigm.” [Kuhn, Thomas (2000). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 24–25].
Then there are those that are revising the paradigm, literally overthrowing it with a new paradigm that refutes the old paradigm. The typical response to this is that the old guard, who are in charge and in control of the old paradigm, believe that the new paradigm which fails to conform to the old paradigm is false and a mistake of conclusions/results on the part of those who are introducing the new paradigm, i.e.: “This can’t be true (it doesn’t conform) … it’s just wrong!!!”
Then evidence builds … “Yes … the planet is really warming!” (Author’s Note: Who cares who’s fault it is … what are the consequences we should be prepared for … and even if it’s not warming at a rate that will completely disrupt the ecosystem as we know it in our lifetime, shouldn’t we be preparing for those who will have to deal with it when/if it comes to that point?)
The scientific community shifts in response to the new paradigm, the old guard loses face, status and all the benefits they’ve accumulated (think French Revolution … October Revolution … Castro in Cuba …) and the new paradigm rolls in to replace the old paradigm, while the new guard rolls in to replace the old guard … and the cycle begins again (think the overthrow of the monarchies and empires of Europe with the introduction of popular democracies and rampant capitalism … one of the challenges you’ll face if you accept that what’s happening is a paradigmatic change is the comment, “It’s the best system we’ve got … i.e.: democracy, capitalism, free markets …“ as though that’s actually a meaningful answer to something unasked … and the question, “So what’s going to replace it that’s better?” that’s intended to stop the questioning of the existing paradigm.)
However, that question, “So what’s going to replace it that’s better?”, actually prevents the possibility of a new paradigm from emerging as long as the criteria is that the new paradigm has to prove itself before the old paradigm can go. Remember if we are willing to accept Kuhn’s premise, they are “incommensurable” relative to one another.
If two competing paradigms are incommensurable then it’s impossible to compare them as better or worst, they are radically different and two completely different sets of metrics will apply. A post-democratic, post-capitalistic, post-free-market system cannot be measured by the markers of success of the existing paradigm, any more than a democratic system can be measured by the markers applied to a monarchy or dictatorship, e.g.: “Is the people’s will being represented and acknowledged in terms of a representative governmental system?”
BTW, IMO this is an argument between linear (e.g.: empirical, idealistic, rational …) and cybernetic epistemologies, but we’ll save that for another time, eh?
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
Joseph, sorry to have to hound you about this. You have the thinking tools to understand “global warming” but you haven’t applied them. The essence is this: The world (activists, politicians) has missed the cue. It has failed to respond to feedback. And the feedback is the following: Climate policy is not working. Kyoto, emissions targets, etc, have no impact on the real world. The response to this has been based on the strategy of “when what you do doesn’t work, do more of the same”. Instead of looking for the real causes, the lack of progress has been blamed on disagreement about climate science (the evil “climate change deniers”). But that’s ludicrous. In politics, you get a majority, and then you act. Instead of reconsidering the approach when it doesn’t work, there’s an attempt to manipulate the public to increase support for climate policy. But as Pielke says “efforts to increase intensity, whether by hyping the science or seeking to scare people with apocalyptic visions of catastrophe, are more likely to turn people off than to motivate them to become politically active”. It’s precisely a linear mode of thinking, believing that you can get anywhere by arrogant one-way communication to an allegedly stupid and gullible public. Some consider this class warfare.
Joseph says
Dagfinn – I think you misunderstand me completely. I’m in no way convinced that we have anything to do with global warming (“we” in this case being humans) … or at least so little that it really doesn’t matter what we change.
Even if our “carbon emissions” are the direct cause of global warming I don’t really care much actually. I don’t believe we have the A) will, B) technology or C) time to do anything meaningful about it. We’re not going to stop driving cars, and even if all the people who care start driving cars that run on water and hope that doesn’t prevent the other 99% of the world driving cars, truck, trains and planes from using hydrocarbon based fuels. I don’t believe that folks are going to stop visiting relatives, going on holiday or doing business in foreign countries because of the impact of their carbon footprint. I don’t believe that anyone is going to stop using electricity because they are worried about the carbon cost of turning on the lights, television or computer their used to and hooked on using. I don’t believe industry will stop manufacturing stuff because there is a carbon load on production. I don’t believe any of it. So my schtick isn’t about human impact on global warming at all, or getting humans to do anything about it.
My schtick is getting to the point where those that can, get it’s happening, like it or not, and deciding how their going to respond when it does. We have multiple scenarios about what will happen from 4+ degrees of warming (devastating to the biosphere as we know it today … i.e.: no polar bears, no coral reefs, more desserts …) to a cataclysmic event that sparks off a new ice age. But we don’t know if any of this will happen, and if it does when it will happen.
What we know is that many, many times in the history of the planet … during the time of human life on the planet … the climate has changed dramatically. Why are we so arrogant as to believe that it won’t change again, or that we can change the fact that it’s likely to change? I’m just not getting that one, in fact at best I think we’re about as able to stop the dyke from leaking as the boy who sticks his finger in the hole that he happens to see spouting water – while ignoring the remaining twenty linear kilometers of leaking dykes.
Now we also know that life alters the environment that it occupies, even to the point of making that environment uninhabitable for the continuation of the lifeform that it generated and that it supports. Plants alter the environment radically based on their growth cycles, ground coverage, resource utilization and even the space they occupy, including the amount of sun the allow or don’t allow through the canopy they form. This changes what happens to all other life that they impact. Ultimately they modify the environment making it possible for species to evolve which threaten them and the cycle begins again … some species thrive and dominate, others dwindle and die off. Same with animal species, and it’s reasonable to expect that applies to the species homo sapiens sapiens.
So my aim is to enlighten the enlightened to think NOT about stopping or even necessarily influencing global warming, or global change … but to begin preparing to be prepared for when it happens. There’s a local boy (NJ based) I’m mentioned before, Tom Brown, Jr. [http://www.trackerschool.com/] who’s out there educating people on how to survive and prosper off the land in challenging and even harsh conditions. I’m not yet sharing his particular paranoia, but I think he’s ultimately on target.
That’s one way to go … become versed enough to endure, survive and prosper if civilization itself collapses completely. I don’t really believe we’ll get there, i.e.: the “Mad Max” scenario … but I think preparing for it will prepare you for whatever we will get to … and I’d rather be over prepared than under prepared myself.
My professional schtick is preparing people to transform themselves and their worldview to survive and prosper in any environment … including the urban landscape that is where the vast majority of the population of the planet lives today, not in the wilderness. I don’t think we’re going back in mass to the wilderness anytime soon, except on two-week camping excursions on summer holiday with the family or old high-school friends .. then back to the concrete jungle where survival is really challenging.
In the urban survival scenario there are a few things I think we need to incorporate to survive and prosper: A) fantastic human skills … B) the ability to sense the waves of chance as they are happening … and C) the ability to secure resources in the lingua franca of the times, today that’s money represented by tiny little packets of data flashed across teller’s screens all around the world.
I hope that makes my position much clearer about global warming (it’s connotation NOT denotation — remember I’m an applied mythologist, and my currency of choice is metaphor … FWIW metaphor isn’t trading so well on the FOREX today)
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
OK. Let’s hope this comment has the survival skills to be readable in spite of the indentation. I see that we’re interested in the subject for different reasons. To me it’s fascinating to see the perversion of the political decision process. Global warming could well be anthropogenic as far as I’m concerned. But it will not 4+ if we are NOT causing it. Even then there is no indication that it could destroy civilzation. On the other hand, something else, like a virus, could.
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
And you are pointing out one of the ignored aspects of the issue. There is no fundamental reason why climate adaptation is only relevant to human-caused climate change.
Dagfinn Reiersøl says
And since truth is so hard to come by in this case, I suppose I should point out the following fact: The biggest corporate money is on the “green” side. http://joannenova.com.au/2010/03/the-climate-industry-wall-of-money/
Laura says
Hi all,
I enjoyed your thoughts Joseph, thanks. In part, I could look at how those ideas would have scared
me in the past, before I learned about Peak Oil (which has turned in to peak resource, including metals, but thats a longer conversation) which led to economics (readers can check out the excellent Agora Financial on line) and the awareness our house was a time bomb that needed to be sold.
We thought when we arrived we would be there forever. It took two years to sell, and 8 months later the market tanked and we would have lost it to a nasty bank (that has since died lol.)
I mention this because these ideas can be life changing, for all that entails. We got out with our shirts, but understanding the ground change of Peak oil left an underlying depression, requiring almost 2 years to work through the update.
I am a GenXer, and I have been steeped in this unsustainable paradigm as much as any. But after finding the excellent generational studies of those two guys I can’t recall at the moment, equating GenX with George Washington and his ilk, I was strangely soothed that the way I saw the world- in part in response to the baby-boomers, who are rather spoiled and narcissistic in reaction to their parents (says the research, its not my fault..) -wasn’t broken, but rather a healthy response to inform the future. My sister, who is 20 years my junior, is Jefferson’s generation. In other words, GenX will need to step up and understand the importance of spearheading change and sacrifice, (since the Boomers en mass aren’t able to) and we won’t get a lot of the goodies in the process, but we will set the stage for the Millenials to make something new from the rubble. Hopefully something worthy and noble, again.
I have no idea if this will play out, but I find the story helpful and comforting as it gives a usefulness to the social science behind it and world views of myself and many I know.
One way we began the journey, was to look at the fundamentals of the system as it is. Money is the thing to understand and boy, is that a tough read. But I understand that the money I put in the tax system extends its life. The money I put elsewhere, likewise. Now I live in the Netherlands, where Im not supporting the greatest imperialistic military the world has ever known, but a system of canals with waterfowl like Ive never seen! Its not a solution, just a step in the journey.
Also, Id say the gorilla in the room is the Easter Island phenomenon. Scientist now say Easter Island had wildlife greater than the Galapagos. And what did the humans do? Used it all. Every. last. tree.
I don’t see any evidence we are capable of more, sadly.
I think part of the danger is the national belief in American exceptionalism. Just as the believers on Easter Island believed their God was on their side, so do we, and we will be protected. And that extends further to the Western world in general, and the belief that things can continue as they have, because its always been like that and thats who we are now. Its blind to the physical realities of the contents of the planet. Meanwhile, the depletion is just as it was on Easter Island; unseen and irrelevant to all those that need to be able to see and manage a difference from within their own lives.
Ach, Im ranting. I just figure if folks here can’t get it, there is even less likelihood that our descendants will have a quality of life greater than the 1600s and in much. smaller. numbers.
I believe the good news is that we can bring a perspective to the future that is totally new and intrinsically empowering to all humanity. That stuff doesn’t buy fulfillment, that the planet and life we’ve got is actually what we most desire, done well, and that what is inside a single human being is no less great than the whole of the cosmos. Now that would be worth changing for.
Cheers,
Laura
Joseph says
Laura – WOW! You should be a guest blogger here …
Laura says
🙂 Years of Kunstler have eaten in to my brain…brain..brain.
Laura says
PS To be more clear, Im suggesting that a lion’s share of the over-reach of the govt. has to do with
the national security issues brought up by dwindling resources and the human reactions to that.
Cheers.
Alain says
Thank you Mr.Riggio,
that was a mouthfull to bite on my iphone 🙂
I find your post more caring than scaring…
What becoming a useful for me in getting a better signal to noise ratio from the abundance of information, is the very yin pratice of stillness . With open focus, I see more and more the emerging patterns. And it is pretty aligned with all you stated here and elswhere. I didn’t come by myslef, though, with all the pratical recommendations, and I am grateful for those. And to relay one another concept you hint to, the only “salvation” will be found in a unquenchable thirst for freedom ( not just liberty).
Grazie mille !
Joseph says
Alain – Prego!
Jackson says
Joseph,
I am always intrigued and amused by your writings. Like a UN study has shown, the Italian genetic pool is the top for average intelligence, meaning the average Italian American is pretty darn savvy.
You write on a topic I am very well versed on, and while I admire your accuracy of the current state of affairs, what is more interesting is your willingness to make your views known publicly. Did you see the tenured professors when they expressed their honest heart-felt and fact-based beliefs after 9/11? Do you think using this information as a bait to get more hits on your “sit and do nothing” transformation courses?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
What if something bigger was brewing, Joseph? Something bigger than all the fancy illumined minds could control? Wouldn’t it be something if everyone was illumined, and knew exactly what was going on?
Imagine if everyone just said no…
I see a world of inversions, where Dagny Taggart is the common man and woman, and Dagny says f-it-all, and leaves with her other self, Galt, to let the bankers tax and issue debt to one another.
How?
By simply awakening. A little life unlocker.
Joseph says
Jackson – FWIW it reads like we agree.
On another note I do in fact feed my family with the work I do so “yes” that’s important to me, it’s part of the game we all play in the current milieu we operate in (I’m not interested or willing to “go wild”). “Money” is the common exchange of time and energy on the planet right now, e.g.: not barter. We live in a world of electronic accounting and the movement of this imaginary transfer of time and energy from person to person and place to place. So to continue doing what I do, instead of something else I intend to have people continue the exchange that the system we operate in accepts as equitable while we’re in it.
However, I’m playing a much bigger game IMO, and I’ve got the scars to show for it too. I’m not sure the game I’m playing is “… bigger than all the fancy illuminated minds could control?” … but I would say it’s bigger than the existing paradigm. And I love the idea of illuminated minds, but not Ayn’s suggestion of how that would/should happen. I love Ayn’s writing fifteen or twenty years ago, but now I think of it as a pointer and something we need to move beyond. Unlike Ayn I am not a product of a communist regime, nor stuck in the illusion that free-market capitalism is the answer to all the ills of the world.
I don’t know about the tenured professors post-911 … please elucidate me. You have my attention there …
Jackson says
Joseph, I suspect we not only agree, we may even reside on the same wavelength.
For truth, and the seeking of truth, one thing people eventually discover is the media is about as far from truth as it gets, and that includes the web. The normal process of ridiculing and deriding whomever *they* desire is standard operating procedure…or if the movement is too big for that (e.g. tea party) then co-opting and diverting the movement is the process.
The professors of 9/11: best thing is to use discernment and view the journalof911studies.org publications…but to be brief, it is Steven Jones who is the poster boy for denatured profs…there are others, but again, mysteriously disappearing information is common ( e.g. http://edition.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/08/06/sept11.theories.ap/index.html
) so it’s not worthwhile to provide citations to public information.
One thing that avatars discover as a pinnacle for awakening is the realization that things have always been like this, and everything is exactly as it should be. We can fight and protest, but strong charismatic leaders who cannot tell right from wrong will always rise to power and recreate the situation here, at least until the game is solved.
So what is there to do? Cry and give up?
Of course not!
It does have something to do with acting a bit like a kid, and knowing it is hard to thread a needle with a rope.
If people knew who they really are, they’d probably be a whole lot less hard on themselves, and that is, for many folks, one important clue for finding the winning square on the game board.
Joseph says
Jackson – thanks for the update. The fact that the link to the CNN page you cite is missing is stunning, but not at all surprising!
Here’s a saying I’m famous for (at least in my own mind, where I’m also a legend) …
“It about being childlike, NOT childish.”
FWIW my workshops, programs, products … whatever, whatever … are NOT about learning to “sit and do nothing” … that’s meditation, and while I don’t subscribe to it, and I don’t dismiss it … I don’t teach or preach it either.
My work is about being in NOTHING as the default state of readiness, i.e.: without preconceptions that limit you from responding to what is as it’s becoming … and then letting it pass once it has.
I’m not suggesting that we can be or are without preconceptions, just that it’s possible to recognize them as such and make them meaningless instead of incredibly or even ultimately meaningful.
So when you’re ready come and experience my kind of NOTHING, it’s a remarkably fulfilling and empowering experience from which to be in the world … kind like Gautama’s relief for suffering, i.e.: letting go of all desire and attachment … but without the lifetime of rice gruel and sitting under trees contemplating one’s own thought bubbles.
Me? I like the bubbles in champagne much better …
Jackson says
Cool…well having been momentarily avatar-ish once in this life, I have lots of tools to work with, and the last 10 years have been a remarkable experience/education in the physical.
And champagne is great, especially if from Epernay…but the prosecco from here (Italy) is pretty darn good, too.
As for thoughts…well, that seems to be my life mission is, to help people discover the broken thoughts that create the prison within; and to dissolve/eliminate this junk, and experience the Self, it is something that makes a cocaine experience very pale in comparison, although the connection between the two makes all of it sensible.
and you’re kind of NOTHING? We’ll have to compare serenity levels…
Joseph says
Signore – Prosecco can be a damn fine drink (or it can be like swamp water, ugh!)!!!
I’ve been reading on journalof911studies.org, and it’s a frightening proposition they offer. I don’t know if I’m ready to buy that tale wholesale, nor the one told by Zelikow either. But the implications, even of the possibility, are enormous. FWIW I have long held that the 9/11 event created exactly the kind of “shock and awe” scenario that Rumsfeld’s mentor, Friedman suggested was necessary to transforming a society and/or nation. I also believe that it was clearly the intention of Rumsfeld and his boss, George W., to change the fundamental nature of the U.S. Armed Forces to become more strategic and lighter tactically to reduce the cost in treasure and blood, and increase the ROI of military intervention.
The movement from heavy Army with dominant ground forces, to a dominate Navy and control of the high-seas with the ability to launch sea-to-land incursions and to support that effort with sparse elite ground troops, heavy armor and a technologically superior control of the skies was always in the deck of cards they were really playing, much more so than the deck of the most wanted ever was IMO.
I also never though it was about controlling oil, or the distribution of oil, too short-sighted for these guys. They know that oil is old and getting older as I’m writing this and that there’s a new technological wave of energy resources on the horizon. It was about control of the political conversation amongst the G9 and overwhelming military superiority. But the endless liberal distraction about “Bush’s oil quest” was just what was needed to take the attention away from what was really happening, and for all intents and purposes, has happened.
Several hundred billion (trillion?) U.S. tax-payer dollars later the U.S. military is now 20 years ahead of the rest of the world technologically, and has overwhelming dominance of conventional warfare strategically and tactically, on the seas, in the air and probably on the ground as well. The evidence to track is the continued stability of the U.S. dollar as the international standard currency despite the aggressive devaluation via QE1 & QE2, with a potential QE3 coming.
In any case what I do is clear enough if you start from the idea that it’s all about a change of perspective from one to many, and the strategies needed to implement what comes up when you have more than one.
Serenely,
Joseph
t says
Great posting,
Before experiencing your work I would not read or engage with something so far stretching so far reading that’s directly beyond my experience. After coming to your work, experiencing it and committing to deepen my living and working from it I pay deep attention to this piece.
Your work works exactly because a story can be configured like the one you did. Most of the games are being run from the fundamental inhibitory position except for the one’s breaking the paradigm and offering another way…not a solution but a path of many possibilities.
What is the equal and parallel argued counter-story or alternative social story for the world? What’s possible from the work you dedicate yourself so judiciously and so satisfactorily and parallel bodies of work that move people back into themselves more fully and equip them to take on the hero/heroine’s journey in contributing in a way that makes the world a better place.
I will continued to surrender and open into your audio piece, The Complete Package, and continue to live my life and invest my attention and actions in a way that serve the world.
Thanks for the exquisite provocation and the pointing back to our own exquisite and connected selves and what we are offering, creating and building through our lives and our relationships.
Best,
T
earl adkins says
Aloha Joseph,
Thank you for the excellent post.
I don’t believe our government is going let us live in a passive environment with the current laws they are passing.It’s more then thumbing their noses at us.How bad do you suppose it will get after the next election in the U.S. if he is reelected ? This administration has contempt for freedom and the American people especially if they are white.They have slow things down until after the election.Listen to the B.S. news “things are getting better”.
I starting to know how the Jews felt in Germany in the 1930s but should we do nothing.
I have this emptiness in my heart and it’s because of the loss of my FREEDOM and whats to come.Oh,I’ll make it but at what cost.Do I sell out and become a card caring communist.
Without FREEDOM all those other problems are mute.
I have this problem that I watch and I did nothing.
Kim says
Joseph,
Excellent post – thank you. I linked back to it from the Tellus Tribe blog.
Can you expand on why you see these “human skills” as growing in demand as we move into the future?
Oh, and why wouldn’t I ??? (Be reading this)…
JA says
I appreciate your blog’s message. Several years ago I stopped watching TV to avoid being exposed to all the garbage the TV and media dish out. A part of that was to also stop listening to and reading the news. Avoiding the bad is easy, finding the good is hard. I have spent a lot of time trying to find a news source for the truth. So far, I feel empty handed for good news and information. Recently I found an extensive web article about the ending of financial tyrrany and corruption and info about what is going on behind the scenes by David Wilcock. (the article is 10 sections long) I thought it was so good that I emailed the link http://www.divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1023-financial-tyranny to everybody I know. I would be very interested to hear your opinions about the information presented in the article. I would also appreciate more specifics about where you get your news and info. Thanks